Autophagy is a lysosomal degradation pathway, and plays a crucial role in cellular homeostasis, development, immunity, tumor suppression, metabolism, prevention of neurodegeneration, and lifespan extension. Thus, pharmacological stimulation of autophagy may be an effective approach for preventing or treating certain human diseases and/or aging. Here, combined with allosteric site identification methods, high-throughput virtual screening, and in vitro activity evaluation, we found that compound 10 can activate autophagy and has good anti-MDA-MB-231 cell proliferation activity (the half maximal inhibitory concentration IC₅₀=8.25±1.53 μmol·L^-1). Subsequently, molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulation, and immunoblotting assay demonstrate that compound 10 can target and activate beclin-1. In vitro studies have shown that compound 10 can induce autophagy-associated cell death in MDA-MB-231 cells. In addition, it was found that compound 10 can induce apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 cells. Taken together, we identified the candidate compound 10 as an effective and selective targeting beclin-1 to activate autophagy as a lead compound, which provide a reference for further development and optimization of small molecule drugs targeting beclin-1 to activate autophagy for clinical treatment.

In recent years, the phenomenon of glass transition has been gradually applied to the field of pharmaceutics. And it exhibits important influences on multiple operating units of pharmaceutical preparations, and the properties and storage of pharmaceutical intermediates and products. At present, it has been widely used in the process of preparations such as drying, granulation, coating, tableting, holt-melt extrusion, cryogenic comminution, and so on. Meanwhile, it showed guiding significance for the process of preparation intermediates and their products, such as solid dispersion, microcapsule, liposome, particle, tablet, and other preparation intermediates and their products. Therefore, this article conducts a detailed analysis and systematic summary of the application guidance of the phenomenon of glass transition in the preparation process, and its influence on the preparation intermediates and products, so as to provide theoretical guidance for preparation production and product storage.

Xanthine oxidase (XOD), catalyzing purine metabolism, is the key enzyme in uric acid (UA) biosynthesis, and becomes an important target for hyperuricemia treatment. The inhibition on XOD plays an important role in the treatment of hyperuricemia-related diseases, such as gout, as well as oxidative stress-induced tissue injury. Here, studies on the natural products with XOD inhibition are reviewed.

An UPLC-MS/MS method was established for the quantification of the genotoxic impurities bis(2-chloroethyl)amine hydrochloride and 1-(3-chloropropyl)-4-(3-chlorophenyl)piperazine hydrochloride in trazodone hydrochloride. The chromatographic separation of the two genotoxic impurities was performed on Waters ACQUITY UPLC BEH C18 column (100 mm×2.1 mm, 1.7 μm) at 20℃. A mixture of 5 mmol·L^-1 ammonium hydrogen carbonate aqueous solution and acetonitrile at a flow rate of 0.3 mL·min^-1 in gradient elution mode was employed as mobile phase. The UPLC-MS/MS was equipped with electrospray ionization in positive ionization mode and adopted multiple reaction monitoring mode. We found that the calibration curves of the two genotoxic impurities were linear in the range of 0.1-10 ng·mL^-1. The limit of detection was 0.10 ng·mL^-1 for bis(2-chloroethyl)amine hydrochloride and the average recovery was 101.53% (RSD=4.06%). The limit of detection was 0.01 ng·mL^-1 for 1-(3-chloropropyl)-4-(3-chlorophenyl)piperazine hydrochloride and the average recovery was 97.95% (RSD=1.27%). The sample solution was stable for 24 h. No bis(2-chloroethyl)amine hydrochloride was detected in the samples, and the content of 1-(3-chloropropyl)-4-(3-chlorophenyl)piperazine hydrochloride in the samples was within the limit. This research provides a method to improve the quality control standards of trazadone.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease with angiogenesis, inflammatory factor infiltration and joint destruction as the main pathological features. Angiogenesis promotes the development of RA and plays an important role in its pathogenesis. The hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) signal transduction is a critical pathway to induce synovial angiogenesis. Targeting HIF-VEGF-Ang-2 signal transduction to inhibit synovial angiogenesis is a promising approach for RA treatment. This article reviews the role and mechanism of HIF-VEGF-Ang-2 signal transduction-mediated synovial angiogenesis in RA, in order to provide a new target and strategy for RA treatment.

The development of printing ink is a challenge for binder jetting 3D printed preparations, which directly determines the quality of the printed product. This study adopted a 2³ full-factor Design of Experiment (DoE) with three central points to optimize the printing ink composition of levetiracetam 3D printed dispersible tablet based on the concept of Quality by Design. Firstly, using polyvinyl pyrrolidone K30, glycerin and polysorbate 20 as independent variables based on 40% (v/v) isopropanol aqueous solution, and weight variation, hardness, friability and dispersion uniformity of the printed tablets were used as dependent variables. Then obtained the design space of the printing ink prescription by DoE model analysis, and the response optimizer was used to obtain the optimal printing ink prescription: isopropanol aqueous solution containing 0.1% (w/w) polyvinyl pyrrolidone K30 and 4.0% (w/w) glycerin. The jetting mechanism and wettability of the printing ink were analyzed, and different strengths of personalized 3D printed tablets were prepared and characterized, which verified the rationality of the printing ink formulation. This study provided a reference for the development of printing ink for binder jetting 3D printed preparations.

In recent years, targeted therapy has become the standard treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but this treatment method has very limited effect on patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) exon 20 insertion (ex20ins) mutation. This insertion mutation is the third most common mutation in EGFR. It shrinks the drug binding pocket and gives tumors inherent resistance to available EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), resulting in the limited efficiency of the first and second generation of EGFR tyrosine. So far, no targeted therapy has been approved for NSCLC patients with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations, and there are still no drugs that have met clinical needs. In this case, new treatment strategies using new EGFR TKIs or bispecific antibodies may establish new treatment standards for these patients in the future. In this review, we will summarize all relevant exon 20 insertions reported so far on the structure of EGFR and its influence on EGFR inhibitor sensitivity, as well as the treatment strategies of exon 20 insertions in NSCLC patients, hoping to be a clinical treatment for reference.

In this study, the fatty acid desaturase gene FAD2 was cloned from Coix lacryma-jobi L. and its molecular structure and function were studied. The results showed that the full-length cDNA sequence of FAD2 gene was 936 bp encoding 311 amino acid residues. Bioinformatics prediction results showed that the protein encoded by the FAD2 gene was an alkaline hydrophilic unstable protein with a molecular weight of 34.87 kDa. It contained three transmembrane helix domain, and did not contain the signal peptide splicing site, and was most likely to be located in plasmid membrane. Compared with other similar genes in plants, it has only a histidine conserved site, His Box Ⅲ histidine site (HXXHH), suggesting its activity may be reduced. Phylogenetic tree analysis showed that FAD2 was closely related to monocotyledonous plants, especially Maize and Oryza sativa japonica Group, but farther from dicotyledonous plants. Therefore, it was inferred that FAD2 might have similar functions with similar genes in Maize and Oryza sativa japonica Group. In addition, the expression of FAD2 gene could be detected in Coix lacryma-jobi L. with high oil content, but not in low oil content of Coix lacryma-jobi L. In order to clarify the function of FAD2, the gene was heterologously expressed in sporomyces cerevisiae. The results showed that the protein encoded by FAD2 gene did not catalyze the formation of C18:1 unsaturated fatty acid into C18:2 unsaturated fatty acid. Therefore, it was speculated that the deletion of histidinine conserved site of FAD2 gene might lead to the decrease of protein activity or even inactivation. This study provides reference value for further understanding the molecular structure characteristics of fatty acid desaturase. At the same time, it laid a foundation for elucidating the biosynthetic pathway of Coix lacryma-jobi L.

Two dimeric diterpenoid alkaloids were isolated from the whole plant of Aconitum tanguticum (Maxim.) Stapf and their structures were elucidated by extensive analysis of 1D, 2D-NMR and HR-MS data. One is a new compound and named tanguticurine A (1), and the other is the known compound anthoroidine B (2); both were isolated from this plant for the first time. The antiviral activity of compounds 1 and 2 against HCV and EV71 were also evaluated. It was found that compound 1 had a good inhibitory effect on HCV and EV71 with EC₅₀ values of 15.5 and 9.7 μmol·L^-1, respectively, and showed low cytotoxicity. Therefore, compound 1 is a good antiviral lead compound and deserves further study.

Adulterants and counterfeits were found in some of the commercial traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) decoctions in Hongjin Xiaojie Jiaonang, Hongjin Xiaojie Pian, and Chaihuang Keli during the national drug sampling inspection. However, it was difficult to determine the species of the adulterants and counterfeits by conventional testing methods. Therefore, a total of 184 samples of the TCM decoctions and raw materials belong to the prescriptions of above mentioned traditional Chinese patent medicines, including Bupleuri Radix, Bajiaolian, Heimayi, and Shufuchong, were collected and authenticated by DNA barcoding technology. 111 ITS2 sequences were obtained from 115 commercial TCM decoctions and raw materials of Bupleuri Radix, among which 71 were Bupleurum chinense, three were B. scorzonerifolium, and 31 were closely related species in the same genus. In addition, counterfeits derived from different genera, such as Ailanthus altissima (one sample), Saposhnikovia divaricate (two samples), and Solidago decurrens (three samples), were also detected. 21 ITS2 sequences were obtained from 22 commercial TCM raw materials of Bajiaolian, among which 15 were Diphylleia sinensis and six were Dysosma versipellis and other species in genus Dysosma. For 22 Heimayi samples, PCR amplification of COI sequence was failed due to genomic DNA degradation. Among 38 Shufuchong samples, 24 COI sequences were obtained and only nine of them were the genuine species (Armadillidium vulgare) recorded in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, 11 were Porcellio laevis, two were Mongoloniscus sinensis, and two samples could not be identified due to the limitation of database. This study demonstrates that DNA barcoding technology is suitable for the species authentication of the decoctions of traditional Chinese patent medicine prescription. It is a conductive way for the establishment of traceability system for the whole TCM industrial chain.